What can you buy with a penny?

Right now, a penny doesn't even buy a penny.

According to the U.S. Mint's 2014 annual report, the current cost of a penny is 1.7 cents per coin. With nearly 8 billion pennies minted in 2014, the U.S. spent almost $132 million to produce less than $50 million of circulating currency. When production cost is added to the opportunity cost of using the penny economists say that the penny drains almost $900 million from the national economy every year!

Right, left, or center, all parties know that the country needs to save as much money as possible, and it's impossible to save money when it's being wasted.